


Hope

by amitiel



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Angst, End of the World, Happy Ending, Hope, Hopeful Ending, Horror, Horror Elements, Love, M/M, Promptis - Freeform, Sex, Starvation, Zombie Apocalypse, apocalypse au, gladnis if you use your imagination, hunger, moment where they think a character is going to die, promtis - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-01
Updated: 2020-09-01
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:41:32
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,541
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26228101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amitiel/pseuds/amitiel
Summary: Ever since the apocalypse happened, Noctis and Prompto have been on their own. They find their way back to Insomnia, scavenging for food until things go horribly awry. Hope is dwindling fast, and without something good happening soon, neither of them will make it.
Relationships: Gladiolus Amicitia & Prompto Argentum & Noctis Lucis Caelum & Ignis Scientia, Prompto Argentum/Noctis Lucis Caelum
Comments: 11
Kudos: 50





	Hope

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ShadCat](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShadCat/gifts).



The decision wasn’t theirs. If it was, Noctis would have never chosen this path. The Six Astrals could be kind, but they all found out just how cruel their judgment could be. It was difficult not to blame Ignis for his decision, nor was it difficult to forgive him for it. Bahamut had given Ignis the choice to decide Noctis’s fate, to watch the world around them burn or to let Noctis sacrifice himself to save all of Eos. No one could have anticipated what the Six would do when Ignis chose to save Noctis. No one could expect this.

“What’d you find?” Noctis asked Prompto as they scavenged the subway, looking for any signs of life that they knew they wouldn’t find. If there was no life there, then the search was focused on materials, things that could be used for food, medicines, potions, elemancy. Anything that could be saved went into the armiger. 

“Not much,” Prompto replied, his expression grim. His clothes were tattered and torn, his shirt used as a bandage too many times for it really to do much anymore. Pants smeared with blood and who knew what else, his shirt ripped just above the belly button and exposing just how emaciated he was, Noctis would’ve found him sexy in any other circumstances if he wasn’t worried about finding him something to eat. 

Prompto had started a habit of giving Noctis his food first, and before Noctis realized what was going on, Prompto was effectively starving. It wasn’t like he intended on eating all the food. There just wasn’t enough to go around, and Prompto insisted that if he was still Eos’s salvation then his life was more important. Noctis disagreed, but they had gotten to the point where they were both hungry, and if Prompto didn’t eat soon then he was likely to die. 

“Oh shit,” Noctis said as he saw something underneath a seat. He bent down and pulled it out. How did they miss this? “Eat this. Now.”

Prompto looked like he was about to object, but his hunger was glistening in his eyes. He sat down on the floor and took the can of beans from Noctis, tore off the top in one fluid motion, and began to voraciously eat it. Noctis knew he was starving; they all were to some degree. But he didn’t realize just how bad it was for Prompto.

“Any word on the others?” Prompto asked once he had finished most of the can. He offered what was leftover to Noctis, who gratefully took it and ate the rest. There was no time to be picky about food. They had to eat what they could get.

“No,” Noctis replied. He looked at the can and sighed, thinking about how things had changed so drastically in Altissia. “I’ve left the armiger open for them to use, but it hasn’t been touched.”

“We’ll find them,” Prompto asserted. He was always so hopeful, the one who kept Noctis believing that Ignis and Gladio were alive out there. Uninfected. Working on a cure. It had taken them so long just to make it back to Insomnia to look for survivors. Noctis wasn’t sure at what point he gave up looking, but the number of infected made it all but impossible to find anyone else alive. He didn’t wholly expect to ever find Ignis and Gladio again.

There was the sound of something scurrying in the darkness outside the subway. They lingered too long. Prompto heard it too, and they both stood up as quickly and as quietly as possible. Shuffling slightly, Noctis took a deep breath before he peaked out of the subway and saw the outlines of several infected slowly making their way towards them. They were drawn by their scent, and if they were too loud then they would draw them in and be doomed. This was why Noctis wasn’t looking forward to venturing down here, but Prompto needed to eat.

Noctis turned to Prompto and silently held a finger to his lips. Prompto nodded in response, his eyes wide with terror. It didn’t matter how many times they encountered the infected; it was always a horrific experience. As quietly as they could, they made their way in the opposite direction, careful not to step on any papers or discarded trash as they opted to go through the subway instead of jumping out of it and potentially running into the infected.

Leading the way, Noctis gripped Prompto’s hand tightly as they reached the end of the train, both of them alert and careful not to run into any infected unexpectedly lurking. Without anywhere else to go, they were left with a choice. They could hole up in the conductor’s cabin and hope that the infected keep on moving, or they could take their chances and get off. No decision was a good one, but it’d be worse if they got trapped underground.

_Let’s go. Quietly._ Noctis signed the words, knowing that it wasn’t official sign language but their own communication system that they set up. They had to do what they could to minimize the danger, and sometimes they had to get creative. Right now, though, they just had to be quiet.

Noctis was the first off the train, and he signaled to Prompto a moment later that it was safe for him to join. The moment that Prompto was outside of the train with him, Noctis grabbed his hand and held onto it tightly. They had held onto each other ever since the infection started, and Noctis wasn’t going to let him go. It only took an apocalypse to admit that he loved Prompto, but now that he did, he wasn’t going back to how things were. 

They walked slowly, hand in hand, with Prompto looking behind as Noctis led him forward. Unfortunately, that meant Prompto had to keep an eye on the infected slowly making their way towards them. Noctis didn’t like putting him in that position, but they had to move quickly, and he was better at making his way in the dark. As long as he remained quiet, as long as they were steady and calm, then the infected wouldn’t come for them.

“Shit,” Noctis said suddenly, alerting Prompto to turn around and face him. There was a crowd of infected walking towards them, surrounding them from both locations. Noctis turned on the flashlight on his jacket, dimming it so it didn’t shine too brightly. There was a hoard of them, all ashen with black eyes and lips trailing scourge from them. Their veins were prominently black, and all semblance of who they once were had given way for the infection. 

“This way,” Prompto whispered, tugging Noctis’s hand. It was too late to try and be quiet. They had been spotted. What once was a crownsguard member stood deathly still, its head cocking to the side with a sickening crunch, as if it was necessary to loosen the scourge in his throat to be able to function. A deep guttural gurgling noise began to emanate from his throat and up to his mouth. It was a warning for them to run. The others would be following suit.

“Go, Prom!” Noctis shouted as it lunged for them, its once nearly static state turning to virulent madness. They bolted, Prompto pulling him towards a small door that led to a place that was likely even worse than here. They kept running until they ran right into the door. It was locked.

“Stand back!” Prompto shouted above the noise of groaning infected. He pulled his gun out of the armiger and shot at the door, leaving closing it a problem for the near future. They hurried inside, both of them struggling against the hoard of infected to try and shut the door. Luckily the inside of the door had a separate closing mechanism. If only they got to it soon enough.

“Fuck!” Noctis screamed in pain as one of the infected bit his hand. He wrenched it away just as they were able to get it shut, but it was already too late. He was condemned.

“This way!” Prompto nearly shouted, pulling Noctis into the small supply closet that was there in the event of emergencies. Well, this definitely counted as an emergency. There was a pounding on the door behind them, but it was holding, and soon enough the infected would get bored and resume their stasis. “Here! Wrap your hand with this!”

Prompto hurriedly grabbed a rag and wrapped it around Noctis’s hand, applying pressure to stop the bleeding. Noctis looked at his lover, the tears forming around the edges of his eyes, his hands trembling in terror. Pain and anger coursed through Noctis, not because he was bitten, but because he was leaving Prompto behind. He wouldn’t last without him. Prompto would effectively just give up.

“Prom,” Noctis said as Prompto continued to rant about cleaning the wound. Noctis grabbed either side of Prompto’s head and made him look into his eyes. His eyes were a swirling galaxy of blue and violet. _I’m going to miss them._ “Prom. Listen to me. I need you to make me a promise, alright? When I’m… When I’m gone, I need you to keep going on. Find Ignis and Gladio, the other survivors, anyone. Just keep going. Please.”

“I-I…” Prompto began. Noctis knew what he was going to say. _I can’t._ He wasn’t going to give him the chance. Fervently, he kissed Prompto, his tongue immediately caressing his lover’s, needing to feel him one last time before the infection set in.

At first Prompto only cried into the kiss, his grief overwhelming him. But then Noctis felt the shift, the desire for one last comforting touch, and he wrapped his arms around Noctis’s neck and pulled him deeper into the kiss. Within the small closet, they soon found themselves on the floor, naked and full of desire and grief, they succumbed to one last tender moment before it was over for good.

Noctis pulled out a worn blanket and lubricant, something they miraculously still had since an apocalypse made having sex a bit difficult. Carefully, Noctis laid out the blanket then straddled Prompto as he laid down, their kisses turning sloppy as they desperately tried to keep connected for as long as possible. They didn’t have any time to waste; depending on the person, the infection could take over right away or take up to an hour.

“Just do it,” Prompto begged as Noctis made to prepare him. “I don’t want to not have you.”

Nodding, Noctis lubricated his cock then Prompto’s hole before positioning himself. Slowly, he worked his way inside Prompto, the heat and tightness enveloping him immediately. Prompto arched his back and let out a moan as Noctis began to move, his hands intertwining with Prompto’s in an attempt to connect with him one last time. 

Neither of them lasted long, but that wasn’t the point. As Noctis pulsed in and out of Prompto, his thrusts becoming erratic, their lips connected and both of them focused only on each other. There wasn’t any hope for the future, not for Noctis at least, but right now there was only love. Right now, they could focus on that.

Gripping Prompto tightly, Noctis shuddered when his lover climaxed, calling out his name as if it were a prayer to the Six to spare him. The response would be silence, as they both knew, so Noctis sent a prayer of his own, Prompto’s name still on his lips as he climaxed shortly after. They both lay there, panting and tearful, until at last Noctis pulled out of Prompto and laid down beside him. Prompto immediately curled onto his chest, and for a long time they were both silent.

“I should go,” Noctis realized, knowing that the infection would take him, and he’d put Prompto at risk if he stayed. “It won’t be safe for you.”

“You’re staying,” Prompto said fiercely, wrapping his arms around Noctis’s torso as he curled against his chest even more. “I don’t care how dangerous it is. I’m not letting you go through this alone. Ever at your side, remember?”

Noctis knew there was no use in trying to convince Prompto otherwise, and quite frankly, he didn’t want to go. He just wanted to hold onto Prompto until the end came. “You know, Prom… I’d like to think that if things were different, then I would’ve married you.”

A soft sniffle emanated from Prompto, and Noctis found himself crying as well. Leaving Prompto behind was the hardest part of dying. It was something that hurt more than dying itself. “I would’ve married you too, Noct. I love you.”

“I love you too, Prom.” Prompto looked up at Noctis, and they kissed one last time before it all fell away.

*** 

Noctis wasn’t sure when they both fell asleep or how long they were out, but when he opened his eyes and looked down at Prompto sleeping peacefully in his arms, he panicked. Surely he had to be changed by now, but he didn’t feel any different. Scrambling, he looked at his hand, unwrapping the makeshift bandage, and noticed how it looked almost healed, like he had merely been bitten by some small animal. 

“Prom,” Noctis said as he shook him awake. Prompto sat up and rubbed his right eye sleepily, until he seemed to come to and realize that time had passed as well. “I don’t think I’m infected. I mean… it’s practically healed!”

Prompto stared at it with wide eyes then practically jumped on Noctis, taking him into his arms and kissing him fiercely. “Do you know what this means?! We can get married-!”

“I’m the cure-.” Noctis said it at the same time Prompto mentioned getting married, and they both paused and blushed. Smiling, Noctis took Prompto’s hand in his. “It means both of those things. We can find a cure and then get married.”

They took a long moment to celebrate before Prompto pulled out an old radio from the armiger and began toying with it. It was the same ritual they did every time they woke up. Prompto would try to find a station where someone might be broadcasting that there were survivors. There never were any. Today though, through the static, there was the sound of a voice echoing on it. Prompto focused in as they both excitedly listened to it.

“For those just tuning in,” Ignis’s voice said over the radio. “We are a small group of survivors stationed at the Hammerhead. If you can hear this, we have supplies and safety here. The trek is dangerous, but we can give you shelter. And Noctis, Prompto… If you can hear this… Gladio and I are waiting for you.”

Noctis and Prompto looked at each other, a hope restored in them that had all been destroyed just a few short hours ago. “Let’s get out of here and get to Hammerhead. They’re waiting for us.”

Prompto smiled and nodded before kissing Noctis. They had to get out of that small room first, so they began to plan excitedly. Now they had a cure, a destination, and a way to safety. Now they had hope.


End file.
